Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to hybrid drives for motor vehicles. More particularly, the present invention relates to manually controlled hybrid drives for motor vehicles featuring a driveline mounted motor/generator.
Description of the Related Art
Hybrid vehicles are being developed to reduce fuel consumption, among other reasons. Many hybrid vehicles are a compromise of a gasoline-powered vehicle and an electric vehicle. A parallel hybrid has a fuel tank that supplies gasoline to an engine and an electric energy storage system that supplies power to an electric motor. In the parallel hybrid, both the engine and the electric motor turn the transmission and the transmission drives the wheels. The goal, of course, is to harness two sources of power to increase efficiency while addressing drawbacks of each of the engine and the electric motor through the combination.
The hybrid vehicle, however, usually features a complicated control system that automates the integration of the two power sources. For instance, initiation of the electric power generation or initiation of motive power from the electric motor is automated. Such a control system is costly to develop and difficult to maintain.